More updates, you ask? Well don't mind if I do!
After waiting WAY too long, I finally have a complete aftermarket exhaust in my hands. I ordered a Becker brand exhaust off of ebay, as I really didn't want to spend days laying on my back building my own, and I also didn't want to spend $3k-$4k for the usual brands. For those of you who may not have seen it, it's 304 stainless steel, dual 2.5" piping, no catalytic converters or resonators, and two dual tip mufflers in the back. I already have mufflers and don't plan on modifying my rear bumper to fit quad exhaust, so I planned not to use the ones that came with it. Even so, it's still a significant cost savings just for the piping!
I open the box and first dig into the mufflers. As mentioned, I don't plan to use them, but man are they nice quality! Welding is first rate, they just look fantastic for the price paid!
Next piece I pulled out was the flange and length of piping leading to the mid-pipe. Immediately I knew there was something wrong... this is not 2.5" piping. I stole the vernier caliper from the garage and checked to see how close it was.
52mm aka 2.047"! WTF! So I immediately looked at the piping welded to the mufflers. Now this looks like the correct size, and it is, right at 64mm.
So the first several feet of the exhaust is 2" OD, and the final portion is the correct 2.5"... where exactly does it jump up in size? I begin unwrapping the mid-pipe and immediately see the culprit.
Right at the beginning of the mid-pipe, the exhaust just randomly and without transition, grows from 2" to 2.5". What the hell are they thinking? Let's measure and confirm. Small side of transition:
55mm... a bit bigger as this is actually the slip pipe that the front section slides into. Large side of transition:
64mm. Yup. So what the hell is going on here. I head over to ebay to double check the listing and make sure I'm not going crazy. I confirm that in fact, yes, it does claim to be 2.5" piping. Then I peruse through the pictures. Now that I've actually seen it in real life, you can find it in the pictures as well. The clear jump right at the start of the midpipe in this picture.
And made even more clear in this picture of all the components separately. I mean, just look at the visible difference of flange side and muffler side exhausts as they sit next to each other. MUCH larger. I know it's only half an inch bigger, but it's obviously a pretty huge difference.
So now I'm left wondering... what the hell is happening that they'd choose to do this? It makes literally no sense! Until I see the ad for the 4cyl version of this exhaust.
2" piping, and running the exact same path as the N54 version, up until the midpipe. So pretty clearly, they designed and manufactured the 4cyl version first, and when it came time to make the N54 version they decided it woudl be easier/cheaper to just reuse the original design from flange to mid-pipe, and then just weld on a different back half to fit the dual muffler layout. I mean, you can literally see the welds where they combine the two different exhausts together. Most every section of hte exhaust is a continuous smooth pipe, but this midpipe all of a sudden has a welded on transition. Talk about a disgusting cost savings play.
Well folks, if it's not obvious by what I've written thus far, I would NOT suggest buying this system! Thankfully ebay is very good about returns when an item not matching the listing description is delivered. I don't have to deal with the seller at all, who I know would try to charge a restocking fee. Won't have to pay for return shipping either. I guess I'll end up building my own after all.